Reservoir for liquids



Jan. 1, 1946.

G D. MARCY v RESERVOIR FOR LIQUIDS File d Feb. 18, 1945 INVENTORGROSVENOR o. MARCY 7 Wm ATTORNEY I Patented Jan. 1, 1946 RESERVOIR FORLIQUIDS- Grosvenor D. Marcy, Newton Highlands, Mass., assignor to BostonWoven Hose & Rubber Company, Cambridge, Mass, a. corporation ofMassachusetts Application February 18, 1943, Serial No. 476,327

1 Claim. (Cl. 150-0.5)

This invention relates to storage reservoirs for liquids and consists ina field reservoir of substantial capacity which may be quickly installedor established under emergency conditions with minimum laborrequirements and from material which if desired may be conveyed to thelocation by air. The reservoir of my invention is designed particularlyto meet therequirements of a critical period in warfar whereestablishing an advanced air field with provision of a, temporarystorage space for gasolene or oils is of vital importance, It isimportant that such a reservoir should be leakproof and weatherproof,located substantially below the ground, easily camouflaged and ofsufiicient capacity to serve the planes using the field until morepermanent storage can be provided. It is even more important,

however, that the reservoir should be ready for service when .the firstgasolen trucks arrive at the new field so that they can dischargewithout delay and return for more fuel.

With these considerations in view an important feature of the reservoirof my invention consists in an impervious flexible sheet inserted in andconforming .to the walls of an upwardly and outwardly tapering orflaring hole in the earth, to

gether with holding or binding means for the peripheral edge of thesheet and a flexible cover section supported in convex form above andextending at its periphery outside the binding means,

A reservoir of this character has all the advantages above discussed.The only materials required may be carried in a plane and dropped byparachute if desired. The excavation requires little manual work, and inmany cases can be effected by the explosion of a bomb of the penetrationtype or can be quickly blasted out by a single explosive charge set at aproper depth. The sides of such a hole will naturally be at the angle ofrepose for that particular soil and so no retaining Wall will berequired.

The material required for a conical reservoir comprises merely twocircular sheets of flexible material impervious to the liquid to bestored, sectional binding means and a tripod or the like for supportingthe cover section. For example, in the case of gasolene a circular sheetof reinforced Thiokol is entirely adequate for the base section of thereservoir. The binding means may consist of a sectional ring havingcapacity for circumferential adjustment. The complete reservoir may beset up in a very short time by a team of two parachute troopers properlyinstructed for the purpose. The reservoir lends itself to naturalcamoufiage and its appearance from the air is exactly that of a shellhole except that the shadows are reversed in position. The reservoir,moreover, is safe except against a direct bit, since its contents isentirely Or substantially below the level of the earth.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of preferred embodimentsthereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a view of one embodiment of the invention in vertical section,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and showing thelap or pleat, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating. in detail the construction ofthe binding means,

Fig. 4 is a detail section taken online 4-4 of Fig. 3, Y

V Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified construction in verticalsection.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the reservoir is of conicalconfiguration and I prefer, by way of example, to illustrate anddescribe a construction of this type.

The principal and base section of such a reservoir is formed from acircular sheet of flexible material, such as Thiokol, reinforced with anintermediate layer of canvas. A flat sheet 24 ft. in diameter isadequate for a reservoir holding about 4,000 gals. Sheets between 15 and30 ft. indiameter are particularly well suited to the requirements ofreservoirs of the type herein disclosed.

The first step in preparing the ground for the base section of thereservoir, is to form a substantially conical hole therein, and this maybe accomplished by exploding a single charge located at the right depthin the ground. The exact angle of the walls is immaterial as thecircular sheet may be folded with a pleat to accommodate any angle, justas a filter paper i folded into a funnel. It is of course, assumed thatsharp rocks and projections if any, will be removed from the sides ofthe hole, and it is desirable that the earth should be banked upsomewhat about the margin of the hole to increase its capacity and takecare of drainage in the vicinity of the reservoir.

Having formed the hole, the sheet In is folded into a cone and placed ininverted position, surplus material being folded into the flat pleat Has shown in Fig.2. The width of this pleat may be just suflicient tocause the material of the sheet to conform smoothly with the Walls ofthe hole in the earth so that there will be no strain on the sheetmaterial. The latter will accommodate itself to considerable unevennessand is simply 'wide' will provide held under compression between theearth and the liquid subsequently delivered to the reservoir. Thecircumferential edge of the lower sheet I is secured by lacing orotherwise to a stiff binding comprising circular ring sections I3. Thesesections are identical in shape and size so that-they may be nested incompact spacefor transportation. They are light and stiff inconstruction, being formed preferably of sheet metal with stiffeningcorrugations 12. One end of each ring section is provided with a seriesof spaced perforations M with which cooperate tongues 15, blanked out inthe adjacent end of the adjacent section, but ;-left :in flat conditionso that any tongue may be bent'into any selected perforation dependingupon the diameter of the particular reservoir in which the ring isinstalled. The ring sections are supported in whatever positionthey arelocated by stakes 1H5 drivenat suitable intervals into the ground Itfwilll'be understood that the diameter of th ]f 1fle infi i r h an s sh"m vj l ea es 'tiallyiafnd yetthe circular sheet l0 maybesatisfactorily-fitteil to the hole practically regardless of its sizeand the pitch of its walls by folding the *sheet in the manner alreadyindicated.

a ;A ori ;ai hole sift. deepand i rtgwiae-at the top will provide for areservoir havinga capacity of 3990 "gals, "and requires a bottom "sheet24 ft.

infliameter. f Aih 1e 510 ft. deep and ft.

for a reservoir holding 7800 gals. and will require a bottomfs'heet 30feet in diai'ii'eter. A sheet 24 ft. in diameter of reinformed Thiolrolsatisfactory for the intended pur ose wei'ghs about 1,50lb's/and maybeeasily handled by two 'men, while 'a 30.ft.'sheet might require "theservices of'thre'e' men.

The roof or cover comprisesa similar but "slightly smallercircularfsheet {211' of the same material having a suspensionrin'g 2| inthe center by whichit may be 's'uspendedfrom a tripod 22, ,jspanningtlfehole and also the lower sheet therefin. The lower peripheraledge offjthecover 2'6 is carried smoothly over 'thefedge t me, lower sheet securedto the ring section 13. It thus proa conical impervious cover for thereseryou.

It is equipped with a 'dowri turnefd flap {23v arranged as a coveroverfa hand ,ihole'ld'adfilling source or a'sourc'e with a strain- 1 nitting a er attachedfto a dispensingpump. A roof slope fo'fsubstantially 30 is appropriate and satist'fjactory 'l 's shown inthevdrawing, thearth is fban'ked' up against the retaining ringtocontinue the roof slope, to give drainage and avoid caus ingunnece's'sary shadows, The tripo122 may he frnade or light tubingof,neutral color and if desired, the surrounding soil may be dusted overthe cover sheet with the result that it is extremely difficult topick-out the reservoir from the surrounding landscape.

In addition to the advantage already discussed it will be noted that theapex of the inverted bottom section forms, in efiect, a sump where sand"or water natu ally tend to collect and so "may be avoided in drawingoil from the reservoir. I

It will be apparent that the reservoir comprising my invention is notnecessarily of the shape illustrated and above described, conical,

pyramidal and frustrum shapes being quite withiinf'tl je possibilitiesthereof. It will also be apparent that the sheet comprising thereservoir linerneedrnot bef-olded to form a pleat a above described, butthe liner can be formed from independent pieces cemented together attheir junctions or the pleat at I I can be removed and a flat piececemented therein in its stead. Furthermore, the specific retaining meanscomprising the sections H are not essential since other means may befound quite satisfactory 'a'nd in some cases it is possible that theedges may be satisfactorily secured by bank'ings of 'ea'rt'hand stones,7 I I v In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a form of rny invntion embodying afiat'bottorr'i wall 3% and outw'ardly-u'p'wardiy taperin 'walls -32, atop cover being provided therefor in any suitable way,'as by the frieansabove described. "In-this case--the"bo ttom and sides of theliner's'heetcan befor'med in the most convenient andfsuitable mjarineras by pieces cut to pattern and cemented alon their cooperating edges,as at 34 and 35.

flexible material capable of being folded into a j compact body and"unfolded without "aifecting their liquid impervious character, andmeans mc'lu'd'ing a sectional [frame binding. together the pe ipheraledges of the reservoir and. cover sheets around the margin of thereservoir.

.GROSVEN'OR D. MAftCY.

